Breakfast Bar with Dish and Silverware Storage

I have a very awkward space between my kitchen and living room with no distinct area for a table, kitchen cart or shelving unit. So I decided to make my own all-in-one that provided storage for dishes and silverware, a place to eat and additional space for future kids and/or guests to sit.

In the end I came up with this breakfast bar/utility cart.

- First, cut a GERTON table top in half lengthwise. We live in NYC so I bought the tabletop second hand from someone using it as a desk and had a hardware shop cut it in half for us (table saws are not apartment friendly).

- I was doing this project by myself so I used a chair with a stack of books to brace the left side of the GERTON table top I’d cut in half while I attached the right side to a BYGEL Utility Cart.

- To attach the table top to the utility cart, I did two things. First, I removed the black plastic stoppers from the top of the BYGEL Utility cart and power-drilled a screw through the stoppers into the wood table top (to make sure the table tops sits flat on the utility cart, it’s a good idea to sand a groove where the plastic stoppers will sit). Once the stoppers are screwed to the table top, you can push the table top, including the stoppers, back into place on the utility cart. Then, I used two metal brackets bent around the utility cart handle to hold the table top in place. I secured the brackets directly to the table top using small screws.

- Once the table top is attached to the utility cart, use a level to make sure it’s even and attach it to the wall on the left side using 2 EKBY STILIG brackets.

- I bought a matching beech LAMPLIG chopping board that rests on the hooks that come with the BYGEL Utility cart so I have extra chopping space when I need it. Eventually I plan to put it on hinges with collapsible legs (so I can just prop it up next to the table), but for now it just gives me a place to store my chopping board that I use on top of my stove.

Decoration Tips: I used 2 small PLUGGIS containers on the bottom shelf of the BYGEL utility cart to store small appliances and other items. We also purchased a 2 tier mesh storage drawer unit from the Container Store to store baby bottles and glasses. The top shelf is for dishes and our silverware and cooking utensils go in the top drawer.

*Optional Addition*
I had grand plans to make a folding leaf out of the other half of the table top so it could expand. It turns out I’m too lazy and not quite creative enough for that so I took the other half of the table top and screwed in four OLOV table legs so I can sit the other half next to the table for a full-width table, or perpendicular to the table to make an L shaped table when we have guests. The legs unscrew from the base so you can take them off when storing the extension.

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